You can't love me - HHr (OS)
by KiwiiChann
Summary: Voldemort found Harry's greatest weakness : his love for Hermione.


_"There's no turning back Harry."_

Harry's scar was burning. He could barely stand. Everyone was laughing or dancing around him.

_He was holding his wand and his arm was shaking. He tried to breathe slowly but started to lose control._

_"You know the spell Harry. She deserves it. She deserves to die."_

His eyes were closed, yet he could hear the people around him clearly. He realized that, this time, it was not one of his nightmares. Voldemort was penetrating inside of his head again, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It was like Voldemort had been waiting for the right moment to act and torture him again. Of course, Harry had had nightmares every night. He could see Sirius, falling on that veil over and over again, quickly replaced by the image of Ron or Hermione, bleeding out to death. There was no doubt that Voldemort was controlling his mind while he was asleep. Harry noticed, though, that it was usually Hermione who filled his nightmares the most. He usually woke up screaming her name when this happened, out of breath at the sight of her motionless body lying on the floor. Most of the time, she would hear him when he had forgotten to put a silencing charm on his room. He could see her sitting on his bed as she leaned forward to hug him and whispered "It's okay, it was just a dream Harry... I'm here. It's okay...".

But this time it was real. Well, at least it felt like it. And it was more painful than when it had happened with Sirius some months ago.

_"Do it" said the same voice._

The crowd around him disappeared as Harry's headache intensified.

_"Do it!" repeated Voldemort._

_Harry rose his wand. He knew the incantation. He had to do it. He was so close..._

_A flash of green light. It's all it took, and her body was on the floor once more._

Harry's eyes shut open as he realized what he had just seen. _He had killed Hermione._ But this couldn't be happening... It was not possible. He was currently at the Burrow, celebrating Christmas, and he knew that Hermione was here, safe and sound. He tried to calm down at that thought, knowing that this was just a vision sent by Voldemort to weaken him... And it had worked.

As he tried to regain control, he didn't notice that Hermione had been watching him closely. He didn't notice that she had seen the red light glowing in his eyes for less than a second before.

No one else had noticed a thing. No one but _her_.

. . . . . . .

The Burrow was on fire. Deatheaters were everywhere.

Hermione lost sight of Harry.

. . . . . . .

Surrounded by fire. Flames everywhere, glowing in the dead of the night. Completely lost, and Hermione is nowhere to be found.

Yet she's here, close, searching for a way to end this.

Everything is burning. Hearts are racing... Both of them. Emotions are growing, confusion is sickening, bringing a dizzy feeling. Panic. Fear. Anger growing. Waiting for a spark to ignite. Tension building. Reason fleeing. Body and uncontrolled mind threatening. It's all exploding.

It's a hurricane of danger and hatred. All wrong. All fake. Surrounded by fire, by passion that does not go up to the surface. Emotions are growing, all leading to self-destruction. Killing slowly. The fire is holding it all back though. A wall of undesired feelings that do not belong here. Leaving no escape. Stuck.

She sees it all. She can feel it as well but she doesn't know how to deal with it. She doesn't hear the voice.

_She deserves it. You know this has to be done._

Watching the confusion, the fear in her eyes as she sees _it_, that familiar dark silhouette outlined by the strength of the flames.

But the voice covers hers. Daft to her screams, ignoring her as she desperately cries out for it to stop, over and over again, there is nothing but the other voice.

There is nothing but the other voice that separates them.

_Kill her! Kill her! KILL!_

Closing the gap between the two bodies.

Hands on her throat. Tears on her face. Suddenly, they're losing their balance and they're falling, surrounded by evil, wickedness and red oblivion glowing in the other emerald eyes looking down to where she's laying, progressively forbidding her to breathe, fingers hanging on to her throat.

_"No, please... Please, please don't do this, please!"_

_KILL!_

_"Listen to me, please don't!"_

_DO IT NOW!_

"HARRY!"

His name. It's all that it took. Simple. Powerful. Harry. That was all he were after all, right? _Just Harry_.

He still has his hands gripping around her neck, leaving it harder for her to breathe, ready to let the life out of reach. But Tom Riddle's voice has disappeared, and Harry is on top of Hermione, eyes locked with hers, the red spark replaced by the green one, anger replaced by dread.

"Harry, stop it, don't let him in, please..."

He feels both of her hands clinging to his arms, trying to push him away slowly. None of them break the gaze. He doesn't move and stares at her, lost in her eyes, without understanding what is stopping him from killing her.

"I love you Harry, _I love you_. It's okay..."

Harry's eyes widen as he realizes what he's doing... as he realizes who she is. His hands start to shake but he remains still.

"H-Hermione..."

"It's okay, it's going to be alright..."

She feels his own tears falling down on her cheek as Voldemort leaves his mind completely.

"He was in my head, I-I..."

"Shhh, it's okay, Harry it's okay-"

"It's _not _okay... H-How is that okay?!"

He finally lets go of her neck and tries to get away but she takes his arm and stop him from going farther.

"I've almost_ killed you _Hermione..."

He puts his hands on his hair, his whole body is shaking. She knows that he's loathing himself.

"You didn't."

"I could have!"

"But you did _not_ Harry... Look at me. I'm still here."

She puts her hands on both sides of his face.

"I'm here and I'm not going to leave you."

"Is it true?" he suddenly asked before she could finish her last sentence.

"What?" She was taken aback.

"Is it true?" he repeated. "What you said... You said that you l-loved me..." It was lucky they were this close to each other, otherwise she would not have heard him.

"Oh Harry, of cou-"

"Don't say it if you don't mean it Hermione. Please, I... I couldn't handle it."

"Why do you think I said it if it weren't the truth..?" She asked, looking deep into his green eyes full of tears.

"No one ever told me that."

Silence. She can hear the pain and the hurt in his voice. She can feel his insecurity, his doubts, and before she can open her mouth to say something he speaks again.

"Y-You can't tell me that. People who love me... They all die Hermione! Everyone around me is dying!"

And before she could do anything, surprised with his sudden outburst, he was standing up and looking at the flames circling the Burrow. Hermione noticed for the first time since she had found him that the deatheaters were gone, so was Voldemort.

"It's not true Harry and you know it. What about Ron, what about Ginny? What about me?"

Harry turned his back to the flames and faced her. He had stopped crying but anger had now joined his fear and sadness.

"Don't you get it Hermione? They almost died tonight and it's all because of _me_! In fact, they could be dead right now, but I wouldn't know since Voldemort used me to kill _you!_" he screamed.

"So what am I supposed to do? I'm supposed to pretend that I don't care about you? Is that what you want?" She was screaming too, trying to hold back her tears.

"He's trying to get through me by YOU! And it's working!"

"Harry James Potter, I am NOT going to leave you!"

"AND I AM NOT GOING TO WATCH YOU DIE IN FRONT OF ME! I CAN'T SEE A WORLD WITHOUT YOU IN IT! MY HANDS WERE ON YOUR FREAKING THROAT HERMIONE! YOU CAN'T LOVE ME!"

Another silence. Deeper this time. She let the tears go, watching Harry as he also let it all go without blinking at her.

He hated to make her cry.

"You can't love me" he said again.

She takes a step forward and he doesn't move. He's just staring at her, waiting for her to say something, _anything. _She always knows what to say. But what she was telling him this time couldn't be possible. It could never happen. She couldn't love him... Not in _that_ way.

"I am the only one who can decide whoever I love or not. I have the right to make my own decisions-"

"Don't..."

She didn't listen to him and carried on. "...and I'm going to fight by your side in this war wether you like it or not. This is _my _life. This is _my _choice. I knew it since the day you saved me from that troll and I'm not going to turn back now! I'm not going to let you down, because I am in love with you, and I couldn't care less about what V-Voldemort knows or thinks about us. We're in this together, Merlin! How many times do I have to tell you to make you understand that you're not alone?"

She had stopped when he were just inches apart from her. She had not realized that he had moved closer to her while she was speaking.

"Are you in love with me?" He asked her.

She took a deep breath. "Yes." _Hadn't he been listening to what she had just said?_

"Well, it makes it a lot more complicated than I thought then."

"W-What do you mean? I don't understand..."

"How am I supposed to stay away from you if you feel the same way about me?"

At first, Hermione still didn't click, but she opened her mouth in surprise when she realized what he had just said.

"Harry, d-do you love me..?"

Harry leaned forward to show her just how much he did.

_fin_

**A/N : For Hamed and Fanny.  
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